1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of stringed musical instruments, and more particularly to a pick holder which may be coupled thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
Even today, with our vast, highly complex methods of measuring and evaluating, man does not fully understand the functioning of the brain. What we do know is that development of the brain is most complete not only with development of applied skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, the so-called three R's, but also with far more abstract and less quantified skills generally categorized as the arts. These arts are believed by many to be essential to the fostering of creativity, and are often identified as the skills or talents which in large part separate man from machine.
One such art is the creation of music. The complexities of sounds have for the most part been very well measured and identified, and can therefore be reproduced electronically. However, the synthesis of a sequence of sounds, which is of course necessary for the creation of music, does not come simply from the laying together of various frequency plots on a computer. Instead, there is a synergy that comes form the interaction of man and instrument. This interaction has evolved for thousands of years, and has led to the development of highly refined musical instruments that are very optimal for the synthesis of music.
A large class of instruments that remains in very wide-spread use is that of the stringed instruments. These instruments, which have many shapes, geometries and consequently many different sounds produced thereby, include guitars, violins, cellos, and so forth. Many of these instruments are designed to be played using a variety of devices to produce vibration in the strings. Depending upon the device or plurality of devices used to induce vibration, the sounds generated thereby may be changed. As but one very simple example of direct relevance to the present invention, a guitar may be strummed using one's fingers directly, manually plucked, or played using a pick designed to engage with the strings instead of the person's fingers. Many other stringed instruments are also commonly played using some combination of fingers, picks and other tools. As but one example, a cello is plucked, strummed using fingers or pick, and played with a bow.
A musician interacting with an instrument is often faced with an undesirable dilemma. When the musician wishes to change the way the stringed instrument is played, alternative vibration inducing devices must be placed somewhere out of the way. In the case of a guitar or cello, the musician will be using one hand to induce vibration, either directly or with another device, and will be using the other hand to press against the strings to control the notes and nature of the vibrations. Consequently, the musician simply cannot hold onto additional vibration inducing devices. Nevertheless, there is much desire on the part of many musicians to be able to select from one or a plurality of vibration inducing devices, most preferably during a single contiguous performance. Such selection will most preferably then be made and executed in the midst of playing the instrument. In other instances, a musician may simply need back-up vibration inducing devices, such that should one fail or accidentally be dropped, the musician will have another readily available to not interrupt the performance.
Recognizing this need and desire, many artisans have proposed accessories which are designed to retain vibration inducing devices such as picks when not in immediate grasp and use by a musician. Exemplary patents which illustrate the different approaches from the prior art, the contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference for their teachings, include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,708 by Vaughan, entitled “Pick holder for stringed instruments;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,232 by Rosen, entitled “Holder for a guitar slide and pick;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,641 by Duhart, entitled “Guitar pick holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,300 by Silverman, entitled “Pick holder for a stringed musical instrument;” Des 355,667 by Burger, entitled “Guitar pick holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,634 by Irizarry, entitled “Holder for thin planar objects;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,643 by Chance et al, entitled “Guitar pick with gripping means;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,052 by Giddens et al, entitled “Guitar pick holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,639,136 by Judd, entitled “Guitar pick holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,531 by Tischer, entitled “Musical instrument pick holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,485 by Denton, entitled “Stringed instrument pick and slide holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 1,645,918 by Miele, entitled “Pick container;” U.S. Pat. No. 1,784,934 by Wilhelm, entitled “Plectrum holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,410 by Phillips, entitled “Guitar pick retention;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,118 by Paxton, entitled “Guitar pick;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,029 by Watrous, entitled “Pickholder;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,255 by Camaioni, entitled “Retractable guitar pick;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,431 by Ferguson, entitled “Stringed musical instrument pick dispenser;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,693 by Nasfell Jr, entitled “Holder for guitar plectra;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,778 by Nixon II, entitled “Music article jewelry system;” Des 355,667 by Burger, entitled “Guitar pick holder;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,468 by Irizarry, entitled “Holder for thin planar objects;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,021 by Longshore, entitled “Pick holder for guitars and other stringed instruments;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,421 by Eason et al, entitled “Instrument support system;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,977 by Oskorep, entitled “Guitar pick stickers which impart a magnetic attraction to synthetic guitar picks;” U.S. Pat. No. 7,186,908 by Hodesh et al, entitled “Stringed musical instrument pick with inert adhesion;” U.S. Pat. No. 7,199,295 by Oskorep, entitled “Guitar pick holder made of a flexible synthetic layer of material which is sufficiently plasticized such that guitar picks cling to its outer surface when depressed thereagainst;” U.S. Pat. No. 7,205,467 by Tafolla et al, entitled “Strap with accessory;” and Des 309,674 by Gervase, entitled “Guitar pick holder.” In addition to the patents incorporated by reference herein above, Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is also incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.
Many of the foregoing pick holders provide retention of only a single pick. Others which provide for the storage of a plurality of picks require a substantial amount of space, which may interfere with or detract from the use and appearance of the musical instrument, and which may undesirably be disturbed during playing of the instrument. Some of the apparatus proposed will not reliably hold the pick, and will instead drop the pick during movement of an instrument. As a result, such apparatus are only useful for a limited number of instruments that are not moved about or shaken during a performance. Other more compact storage techniques do not permit access to each one of a plurality of stored picks. Consequently, in spite of the very large number of patents of the prior art, there remains a need for a better and more suitable means to hold and store picks.